Childhood
by Infinity13
Summary: Ventus and Roxas, twin brothers, have been in love with Namine ever since their childhood. After Namine chose his brother over him, Ventus has flashbacks of all the good times they shared together.


Ventus had been sitting on the couch watching TV for hours now as he waited for his twin brother, Roxas to get up. He flipped through the channels lazily, finding absolutely nothing to watch. He groaned slightly and leaned his head back against the couch, staring up at the ceiling. He shifted his weight slightly as he heard creaks coming from the floor upstairs in Roxas' room, signaling that the younger twin had finally woken up.

"Morning, Ven." Roxas mumbled sleepily and yawned, stretching out his arms.

Ventus moved his head so he could watch his brother walk, more like trudge, into the kitchen. "Morning, sleepyhead." he replied, quickly shutting off the TV and jumping up from his place. He followed his brother, easily catching up since Roxas was walking so slow. Ven slowed his pace to match the speed of his brother's. "There are some leftover eggs that I didn't want, if you want them." Ven offered, not trusting his brother yet to cook on the stove in his sleepy state.

Roxas grunted in response and grabbed the plate, plopping down at the kitchen table.

Ventus leaned against the wall of the kitchen, watching Roxas with a slightly amused expression.

Roxas paused and looked up, meeting the gaze of his older twin. "Could you stop looking at me like that?" he asked through a mouthful of food, a slightly frustrated expression on his face.

Ven laughed and nodded. "Sure." he said and turned away, walking out of the kitchen. He walked briskly up to his room, wanting to get ready before Roxas hogged the bathroom. He picked out a change of clothes, a nice blue T-shirt and some black shorts, leaving them on the bed before walking to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth slowly and brushed his hair quickly, not really caring about it since he would just be brushing it again after his shower. He made sure to take a quick shower because it would only be a matter of minutes before Roxas came up. He dried himself off and quickly walked back into his room with a towel around his waist. Ventus took his time getting ready for the day, even though he had absolutely nothing to do for the day.

The older blond went back to his spot on the couch, waiting for Roxas again. It was about a half an hour when Roxas came back downstairs. He looked different than usual, his hair was brushed more carefully then he usually did and his clothes looked neat, for a change.

"Where are you going?" he asked curiously.

"Didn't I already tell you? Namine and I are going to the movies." Roxas said and plopped down on the couch next to him.

The name of the angelic blond sent pain through Ventus' heart. The three of them had been friends forever, they went everywhere together. But when they were in high school, she had chosen Roxas over him. She had meant everything to him, but she never felt the same way about him. They were always just friends. What made it even worse, was that she chose his own brother, even though he had always cared for her more out of the two.

"Oh..." Ven said quietly, staring at the TV in front of him instead of at his brother.

Roxas looked over at Ventus, seeing the obvious pain in his eyes. "Dude, I'm sorry, but-" he started, but was cut off.

"Don't say anything. Okay? You'll just make it worse." Ventus said in a frustrated tone.

Roxas gave him a look of sympathy, but decided not to say anything. He knew how much Namine meant to Ventus, but he loved her too. It wasn't his fault that Namine liked him better.

"I, uh, should probably go pick Namine up... I'll see you later." Roxas said and stood up quickly.

Ventus sat there, giving no response.

Roxas hesitated before walking away and out the door.

Ventus sat there for a while before decided to get up. He walked to the office, digging through the drawers until he found what he was looking for. They were pictures, and lots of them, of the three of them.

"Namine..." he said quietly and brushed his finger against Namine's face in the picture that was on top. Ven sat down on the chair and flipped through the pictures, coming to one of them when they were about seven and at a water park.

"Ven! Hurry up!" the soft voice of Namine called out to him, giggling slightly as Roxas pulled her along the crowd.

Ventus frowned slightly as he pushed through the numerous amount of people that were trying to get to the water slide.

Namine tugged on Roxas' hand slightly and looked up at him. "We have to wait for your brother." she said, a small pout on her face.

"Do we have to?" Roxas asked, but he stopped running like she wanted.

Namine's face brightened again and gave Roxas a quick hug before looking back at Ven. "We're almost there!" she said, jumping up and down slightly from excitement.

Ven gave a quick grin once they were all walking together, moving with the line, again. Once they got to the top, Roxas placed his tube in the water for Namine.

"Come on, you can go first." he said, holding one of the handles so she could get on.

Namine whimpered slightly as she looked into the black tube, reading the letters above that said 'Pitch Black. Sharp Turns.' "Um... I don't think I want to go on anymore..." she said quietly and looked up at Roxas, hoping he would understand.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "You've got to be kidding, Namine. You're such a sissy." he said and plopped down on the tube, using the bars beside him to push himself into the slide.

"I'm not a sissy." Namine said and pouted, but he was already gone.

"We can go down together if you want, I don't mind." Ventus said and gave a small smile.

"Really?" Namine asked, her expressions brightening again.

Ventus laughed and nodded. "Sure! I think it would be fun!" he said and placed the tube down. He sat down first, then held it in it's place. "You can sit on my lap." he offered.

Namine nodded and carefully sat down, not wanting to hurt him.

"You ready?" Ventus asked, a small, yet cocky grin on his face.

Namine giggled and nodded again, holding onto the handles.

"Then let's get going!" he said and pushed them off, wrapping his arms around her waist so he had something to hold onto.

Namine screamed, leaning back into him as water splashed all over them, the tube making sharp twists and turns.

Ventus laughed, holding onto her tightly so she wouldn't fall off. They soon saw a light at the end of the tunnel, with an unhappy Roxas standing off to the side as he saw Namine was riding with Ven.

Ventus smiled slightly at the memory, clear as crystal in his mind. He would do anything to hold Namine one last time, to make her realize that he was the one for her and not Roxas.

The next picture was the three of them hanging out in the park. They were maybe ten, or eleven, and those were the years that were best for him.

Namine laughed, running away from the two boys as they chased after her. The three of them had been terribly bored, so they had decided to play hide and go seek tag. Roxas was it and he had already found Ven and the both of them had been looking for her. She frowned slightly as Ven began to catch up as Namine neared the base.

"Why do you have to run so fast?" Roxas grumbled from behind, an obviously frustrated look on his face.

Namine gave a soft giggle and jumped up on the low rock wall, which had been their base. "Well, maybe you just run slow." she joked and giggled again.

Ventus came to a quick stop and crossed his arms. "If you think you're so fast, then why don't you be it?" he asked, cocking his head to the side slightly.

"I just think I will." she said and jumped down. "Ready. Set. GO!" she said and covered her eyes with her hands. "One, two, three, four..." she started, counting up to 20 before starting her search. "Ready or not, here I come!" she called to them and began walking around. She hummed softly to herself, searching and listening for clues to where they would be. She stopped her humming once she saw a grey and green shoe, Ven's shoe, sticking out slightly from under a bush.

Namine let a soft, yet muffled giggle and tapped his shoe. "You're out!" she said and laughed lightly.

Ventus frowned and crawled out from under. "How did you find me? My plan was perfect!" he complained.

"Not quite. You're shoes gave you away." she said and laughed, taking his hand to help him up.

Ventus gave a soft blush as their hands were joined together, standing side by side.

"Um... Can you help me find Roxas?" Namine asked, her cheeks a rosy pink as she glanced down at their hands.

"Sure. In fact, I know exactly where he is." Ventus said and chuckled, leading her towards the benches. The two walked in silence until the came upon a large trashcan. "He's behind there. And you didn't get that from me." he said and gave a small smirk.

"Thank you." she said and smiled, squeezing his hand slightly before letting go to get tag Roxas.

Ventus stood there, watching her. She was just so beautiful to him, he wanted to feel her hand in his again. He heard the laughter of his twin and the beauty they both loved, then Roxas arguing about how it wasn't fair that Ventus gave his spot away.

Ventus smiled again, wishing he had acted quicker about stealing her heart away. But Roxas had been the lucky one to win her heart over. She was so innocent, he never thought that she would fall for a guy like Roxas, and of course he had been quite wrong about that.

The next picture broke his heart in two. It was Roxas and Namine's first date, they were sitting at a restaurant and Roxas was kissing her on the cheek.

Ventus frowned as the memory of the day he found out they were together came flooding back to him.

Ventus walked down the school hallways beside Namine as they headed to their next class. He always walked her to Spanish as he made his way to History, since they had the class before together.

"Hey... Namine?" he asked quietly. He had been building up the courage to ask her out for the whole year, and he decided to ask her now, or he never would.

"Uh-huh?" Namine said, looking up at the taller blond.

"Would you, um, maybe want to go to the movies, or maybe dinner, with me?" Ventus asked shyly, a small blush on his cheeks.

Namine stopped walking, a slightly sad expression on her face. "Oh, Ven..." she said and sighed.

Ventus paused beside her, her reaction obviously saying that she couldn't.

"I'm so sorry... I would have loved to if you had asked a few days ago, but I already have a boyfriend." Namine said and gave a small smile.

"Oh... Well, I guess I can be happy that you're happy." Ventus said, trying to look on the positive side.

"I've always liked you, Ven. But I got tired of waiting for you to ask, so I went to the other person I've always loved." Namine said and shook her head. "I gotta go... I'll see you later." she said and quickly walked away.

Ventus continued to stand there, a little shocked and a little heartbroken from her response. He quickly gather his thoughts and started walking again to his next class, not wanting to be late.

The rest of the day went by slowly. He still couldn't believe that Namine had rejected him and had chosen somebody else. He shoved his books into his locker and grabbed his backpack.

"Finally, the day's over..." Ventus grumbled and walked over to Roxas' locker, since they drove to school together. He froze in his spot, his eyes wide from the sight in front of him.

Namine stood on her tiptoes as Roxas leaned down to her, pressing his lips against hers. She threw her hands around his neck, his arms snaking their way around her waist. Namine let out a soft moan of pleasure, closing her eyes as she pressed her body against hers.

A small squeak escaped through Ven's mouth, causing the the couple to break apart.

"Ven!" Namine gasped and looked up at Roxas with a frightened expression.

"How could you-" Ventus cut himself off, trying not to scream at them.

"This isn't the way we want you to find out." Roxas tried to explain.

"We were going to tell you." Namine said, leaning into Roxas for protection.

Ventus narrowed his eyes slightly. "You know what, I'll walk home so I can give you two some alone time." he said sarcastically and turned around, walking briskly away.

Ventus put the photos back in the drawer and stared out the window. He still loved her, even though she and his brother had hurt him badly that day. He could never hate her. It was impossible for him to do so. But he knew he had to let go. He knew Roxas and Namine loved each other, and Roxas had said so many times that he thought that she was the one.

"There's somebody out there for you, you know." Roxas said, causing Ventus to jump.

"Roxas? Why are you here?" Ventus asked with a surprised tone.

"Namine's grandmother was sent to the hospital today, due to some illness, so she couldn't make it today." Roxas said and looked down.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Ventus said and looked back down at the drawer.

"Yeah..." Roxas trailed off.

What Roxas had said got Ven thinking. Namine wasn't the one for him, if she had hurt him so many times, even if it was by accident. There has got to be somebody else for him, somebody who would stay by his side no matter what. He was going to find this girl and win her heart over before anybody else could take it. He was going to find his own Namine.


End file.
